Method and apparatus for unlocking a mobile telephone type wireless communication terminal

ABSTRACT

A method of unlocking a mobile terminal and a mobile terminal is disclosed. The mobile terminal is initially locked to the services of a mobile services provider. The mobile services provider transmits to a predefined telephone number associated with a service provider other than the mobile services provider, via the mobile services provider, a request for unlocking information. The request is transparent to the mobile services provider. If the request is approved, the mobile terminal receives the unlocking information. Using the received unlocking information, the mobile terminal unlocks itself so that it is no longer locked to the services of the mobile services provider. If the request is not approved, the mobile terminal receives and displays a message indicating that the request is not approved.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/730,385 filed Mar. 24, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,600,351, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/808,465, filed Mar.25, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,689,204, which claims priority from FrenchPatent Application No. 03 03 690, filed Mar. 26, 2003, the contents ofeach being incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The embodiments of the present invention described herein relate tomethods of unlocking mobile telephone type wireless communicationterminals and, more particularly, to SIM-LOCK type systems.

BACKGROUND

A locking system provides the following actions: locking a mobiletelephone to the services of a particular operator; locking a mobiletelephone to particular services of a given operator; and locking amobile telephone to a given SIM card microchip to prevent the use of themobile telephone with a microchip card other than that with which thetelephone was sold.

The locking system generally allows an operator to ensure that acustomer who has purchased a telephone in the context of a promotion,whereby the telephone is sold at a very much reduced price on conditionthat the customer uses a particular subscription for a relatively longperiod, will comply with the terms of his agreement. This also solvesother problems, for example the use of a stolen telephone with anothermicrochip card.

It is nevertheless necessary to provide means for canceling such

-   -   locking, for example at the end of an agreement.

A specific piece of information referred to hereinafter as the lockingkey is introduced into the telephone by the manufacturer during itsmanufacture, and problems with unlocking relate essentially to relationsbetween the user of the telephone and the telephone operator, thestandard practice being for a manufacturer to communicate a list of keysto an operator. The latter then carries out the unlocking at the requestof the user, after verifying the latter's rights.

Transferring unlocking keys necessitates secure communication betweenmanufacturers and operators.

As there is generally no exclusive agreement between them, eachmanufacturer supplies all operators, and vice-versa. Communication isnot secure.

Furthermore, the number of telephone designs increases daily. There aretherefore serious communication problems that lead to seriousmalfunctions and a very large number of complaints from users.

SUMMARY

An embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method ofunlocking a mobile terminal, which is initially locked to the servicesof a mobile services provider. The mobile services provider transmits toa predefined telephone number associated with a service provider otherthan the mobile services provider a request for unlocking information.The request is transmitted via the services of the mobile servicesprovider and is transparent to the mobile services provider. If therequest is approved, the mobile terminal receives the unlockinginformation. Using the received unlocking information, the mobileterminal unlocks itself so that it is no longer locked to the servicesof the mobile services provider. If the request is not approved, themobile terminal receives and displays a message indicating that therequest is not approved.

An embodiment of the present invention is directed to a mobile terminal,which is initially locked to the services of a mobile services provider.The mobile terminal includes a transmitter that is configured totransmit to a predefined telephone number associated with a serviceprovider other than the mobile services provider a request for unlockinginformation. The request is transmitted via the services of the mobileservices provider and is transparent to the mobile services provider.The mobile terminal also includes a receiver that is configured toreceive the unlocking information if the request is approved. Further,the mobile terminal includes a control unit that is configured tocontrol the mobile terminal to unlock itself so that it is no longerlocked to the services of the mobile services provider if the request isapproved. The receiver may be further configured to receive a messageindicating that request is not approved if the request is not approved.The mobile terminal may also include a display that is configured todisplay the message indicating that the request is not approvedresponsive to the receiver receiving the message indicating that therequest is not approved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Other features and advantages of the invention will become clearlyapparent in the course of the following description, which is given withreference to the appended drawing, which is a flowchart of the method ofthe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments of the present invention described herein apply to anytelecommunications or terminal compatible with network technologies suchas DECT, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, UMTS, etc.

As used herein, the term mobile communication terminal means any deviceassociated with an integrated circuit card, also known as a microchipcard, and conventionally referred to as a subscriber identity module((SIM) or (USIM)) card.

In accordance with the invention, unlocking is performed by thetelephone itself at the request of the user. To this end, themanufacturer sends specific information constituting an unlocking key tothe telephone concerned.

Thus, according to the invention, a telephone manufacturer holds in adatabase the unlocking keys of all the telephones that it hasmanufactured, without communicating them to operators to whom it hasshipped telephones.

However, the keys are associated in the database with means foridentifying the corresponding telephones. For example, the serial numberof the telephone may be used as unique characterizing information(International Mobile Equipment Identity—IMEI).

An operator may store in its own database the identification of atelephone supplied to a particular user, again with reference to itsserial number, for example.

In a symmetrical manner, a user may easily identify his telephone, forexample simply by reading the serial number indicated on the telephone.According to the invention, a user who requires unlocking of histelephone communicates an unlocking request directly to the manufacturerof the telephone (step 101) together with the identification of thetelephone concerned, for example its serial number (step 102).

This communication is transparent for the user's operator. Thecommunication is affected by a telephone call using the telephoneitself, for example by the user calling a telephone number indicatedalongside the serial number or supplied by the operator at the time ofsubmitting the request.

The manufacturer and the operator verify that the user is entitled torequest unlocking (step 103), either manually by means of a telephonecall or automatically by automated database look-up means. In this step,the operator does not have to consult lists of keys from varioussources, but merely verifies its contractual relationship with a user inregard to a listed telephone. Verification is therefore much simpler andleads to a “yes” or a “no” response.

If the response is “no,” unlocking is refused and the action terminatesin a refusal (step 104).

If the response is “yes,” the manufacturer communicates the unlockinginstruction directly to the user (step 105).

This communication is also affected by any suitable means, i.e. usuallyby sending via the telephone network an unlocking code received by thetelephone itself, which then proceeds to unlock itself.

Clearly this code is transmitted via the network managed by theoperator, but once again the latter merely serves as a passivetransmitter, for whom the operation is transparent.

In a variant of the invention, the manufacturer sends the code using asecure system provided in advance for preventing fraudulent unlocking byan unauthorized third party.

The telephone is then unlocked (step 106).

To minimize errors and complaints, the invention also proposes to sendthe user, and possibly the operator, a confirmation message containing asummary of the operations effected.

The message includes at least an indication of unlocking of thetelephone, or, where applicable, of refusal to unlock. It may alsocontain complementary information such as references, for example timereferences, of the unlocking request and the outcome thereof, and, whereapplicable, the reasons for refusal. Where appropriate, in order topreserve the confidentiality of some of the information transmitted, themessage sent to the operator is different from that sent to the user.

The message may be sent by any means.

The data may advantageously be transmitted digitally on the speechchannel using a data modulation device. The bit rate of the data and thecarrier frequency of the modulation may be chosen so that the shape ofthe main lobe of the data modulation spectrum at the input of the speechcoder is preserved on the output side of the speech coder and decoder.

Thus, the bit rate is relatively low, and there is no additional costfor data transmission as no specific subscription is required totransmit the data. Another advantage of this solution is that it enablesa manufacturer to obtain access to all its terminals, even if the userhas not subscribed to data transmission services (“service data”) or ifthe user's terminal is not compatible. This solution does not rule outother solutions. A transmission medium such as the GPRS, for example,may be used.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of unlocking a mobile terminal that islocked to services of a mobile services provider, the method comprising:transmitting, to a manufacturer of the mobile terminal, a request forunlocking information to unlock the mobile terminal from the services ofthe mobile services provider, the request including a unique identifierof the mobile terminal; and receiving, from the manufacturer of themobile terminal, the unlocking information based on the uniqueidentifier.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting of therequest includes sending the request via a network of the mobileservices provider.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting ofthe request includes sending the request, which is transparent to themobile services provider.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thereceiving of the unlocking information is conditioned on approval by anapproving entity.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the approving entityis the mobile services operator.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein theapproval is based on at least a relationship between a user of themobile terminal and the mobile services provider.
 7. The method of claim1, wherein the transmitting of the request includes any of: (1) atelephone number; (2) a serial number; or (3) an International MobileEquipment Identifier (IMEI) as at least a portion of the uniqueidentifier.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: initiallylocking Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card to the mobile terminalsuch that the mobile terminal is locked to the services of the mobileservices provider.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:unlocking the mobile terminal from the services of the mobile servicesprovider, after receiving the unlocking information.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: unlocking, based on user input, the mobileterminal from the services of the mobile services provider, afterreceiving the unlocking information.
 11. Apparatus for unlocking amobile terminal that is locked to services of a mobile servicesprovider, comprising: a transmitter configured to transmit to amanufacturer of the mobile terminal a request for unlocking informationto unlock the mobile terminal from the services of the mobile servicesprovider, the request including a unique identifier of the mobileterminal; and a receiver configured to receive from the manufacturer ofthe mobile terminal the unlocking information based on the uniqueidentifier.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the transmitter isconfigured to send the request via a network of the mobile servicesprovider.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the transmitter isconfigured to send the request, which is transparent to the mobileservices provider.
 14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the receiveris configured to receive the unlocking information conditioned onapproval by the mobile services operator.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14,wherein the approval is based on at least a relationship between a userof the mobile terminal and the mobile services provider.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmitthe request, which includes any of: (1) a telephone number; (2) a serialnumber; or (3) an International Mobile Equipment Identifier (IMEI) as atleast a portion of the unique identifier.
 17. The apparatus of claim 11,further comprising: a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card configuredto be selectively locked to or unlocked from the mobile terminal causingthe mobile terminal to be locked to the services of the mobile servicesprovider.
 18. Apparatus for controlling unlocking of a mobile terminalthat is locked to services of a mobile services provider, comprising: areceiver configured to receive from a user of the mobile terminal arequest for unlocking information to unlock the mobile terminal from theservices of the mobile services provider, the request including a uniqueidentifier of the mobile terminal; a controller configured to determinewhether to approve or deny the request for the unlocking information;and a transmitter configured to transmit to the user of the mobileterminal the unlocking information based on the unique identifier oncondition that the control determines to approve the request.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 18, wherein the controller determines to approve ordeny the request based on at least a relationship between a user of themobile terminal and the mobile services provider.
 20. The apparatus ofclaim 18, further comprising: a memory configured to store the unlockinginformation of the mobile terminal searchable based on one or moreunique identifiers of the mobile terminal.